


Turnabout

by tol_critter



Series: Tol's Collection of Bug People [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: An AU-ception, Learn to share you powerful idiots, Some of the Higher Beings are either idiots or brats out of inexperience, Visitor gets bugged, this is an au of an au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:54:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29751636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tol_critter/pseuds/tol_critter
Summary: The Visitor has an idea, time hijinks ensue.
Series: Tol's Collection of Bug People [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186667
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue: Where Am I?

Third POV

The Visitor watches as the Pale Wyrm moves their plan into motion. As he was forming the shell for their proxy, a thought suddenly came to them.

**_‘A different form…’_** the being has another idea, another plan forming in their mind.

‘ **_A “Higher Being” can cast their former shell off to exist in the mortal plane, and while they’re weaker there, the benefits outweigh the risks...wouldn’t it apply to beings like me as well?’_ **

**_‘The plan is already in motion though...a branch off, perhaps? Could it work?...It could, but I would need an appropriate form. Something different, less vast, something...smaller.’_ **

With their goal in mind, the being fractures it’s own body, a grey liquid spilling from the cracks. The liquid flows around like it’s alive, writhing. 

While the cracks slowly sealed themselves up, one of the being’s hands manifested sharp claws, ripping into the space in front of them.

A tear in the realm forms, the grey liquid slinking into it. When it closed up, the world itself shuddered.

**_“Hmmm...ah, the split is successful, time to initiate Plan B: Turnabout.”_ **

* * *

-IN THE OTHER TIMELINE-

Somewhere in the realms, there’s a tear in the walls of the world.

From the tear, there is a grey substance seeping through it. As it passes through, the tear seals itself up, leaving no traces behind.

**“Hhhh, that was unpleasant, but it’s a success. Now...an appropriate form.”**

The liquid coalesces into a tall figure, with a pure white face and sharp horns on the sides of it, shaped like knives. The body itself is humanoid with two pairs of arms and digitigrade legs. There aren’t any feet or claws on the legs, as they’re shaped like blades, looking like they’re able to spear through tough armor with ease. There is also a long tail whipping behind them, strong enough to support their weight entirely.

**“A... grasshopper? Not inaccurate for a world hopper I suppo- hmm? Oh...oh dear,”** the figure rubs their head. **“Some of my memories appear to be detaching...this could be troublesome.”**

**“Now where am I?”** looking at their surroundings, all they saw was grass plains, the grass blades reaching up to their shoulders, and a darkening sky. **“...This is not Hallownest, I seem to have misplaced myself.”**


	2. Chapter 1: Exploration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where is the glorified ant hill known as Hallownest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a way for me to go ham on stuff.

Third POV

While they may look calm, internally the figure is panicking. Their train of thought however, is disrupted by a grumbling from their belly. 

**‘An empty stomach is not beneficial for clear thinking.’** they thought. 

**‘Food...grasshoppers are opportunistic eaters, right?** '

After dealing with the sudden gnawing in their stomach by chewing on some grass blades, the strange creature sat down on the ground, contemplating on their predicament.

 **“This should be the surface world, right above the kingdom of Hallownest, if I’m not wrong.”** the creature said to itself out loud, pondering. 

**“But the present time...there is no way to determine it. Hallownest might not even exist, the Wyrm themself could still be burrowing, haven’t cast off their large shell yet. If so, the current Higher Beings residing in the place could be...the Radiance, Unn, or the White Root. I cannot be certain.”**

**“A survey is in order.”** they concluded, then looking at their legs and giving a few kicks out to test them, and leaning back on their tail, testing its strength. **“This body is made for jumping, obviously.”**

The nameless figure looked up to the open sky, bending their knees and crouching down low. With a burst, they leap up towards the sky, easily sailing through the air.

Now up high in the air, they can see the horizon and their surroundings easily. The sun is setting down over the horizons, where mountain ranges are stretched over like a slumbering beast. The sky turned from orange to dark blue and purple, speckled with stars and clouds floating all around. Looking downwards, they can see all types of flowers and greenery growing, countless varieties and colors all around.

(I don’t own this pic)

It was _breathtaking_.

And it ends all too soon, when they start to descend from the air. Falling towards the ground, they braced themselves for the impact. Their blade-like legs stabbing into the dirt when they finally landed.

 **“...A bit more exploration wouldn’t hurt, right?”** they said, breathless from both the sight and the thrill. With their goal set, they prepare to leap again, once more through the air. They’re overcome with the urge to explore, to _discover_.

* * *

 **“Ha ha ha!”** they laughed merrily while sailing through the air, exhilarated. **“I never thought this could be so fun! Whoo!”** they yelled out, enjoying the feeling of the wind nipping at their carapace.

When leaping towards the mountain range, they can see that it’s actually the corpse of a large creature, long decayed and it’s bones bare, overrun with wild growth all over it. 

**‘Hmm to go, or not to go?’** they pondered, munching away on seeds of the large flowers they came across. The flowers were quite large and their stems grow so tall that they seem to be reaching out to the sky. They’re also very tasty, the creature found out when taking a bite out of every part of the plant they can reach.

 **“Ah well, I need shelter anyways.”** so then they leap off towards the skeleton, before the sky completely darkens. While the place may look peaceful, it’s still an unknown territory.

Arriving at it in a few more leaps, they quickly found out that it’s easily larger than the flowers from before, the skull alone can act as a cozy nest as it’s bigger than their whole body, with dark brown branch-like horns. Some yellow flowers are growing unto those bones, the roots digging into its joints and around the skull, with white fluff balls around it, specks of the white fluff occasionally detaching and flying away in the wind. The bones themselves are yellowed and strangely clean, although a bit dusty.

(I'll put a pic here later)

 **“Pardon me…”** they said as they tottered to the ribcage of the skeleton, peeking into it to check if there was any other living being inhabiting it. After making sure there’s no one there, the creature plopped down in the skeleton.

There, they can see through the gaps that the sky has completely darkened, and the moon is shining down. This is very soothing, after jumping around, exploring everything all at once. 

It’s a comfortable silence, the grass rustling in the wind, the creature shifts around in the ribcage until they’re settling comfortably in it.

Drifting off to sleep, they briefly wondered if they had heard someone humming or not, in the distance.

* * *

“Nameless” POV

 **‘This is pleasant.’** I thought.

Munching on a leaf, I lazily move my hand across the air, leaving behind bright blue streaks. 

I am currently in the Dream realm, as my body is now sleeping in the physical world. Instead of platforms, the place is filled with clouds, the floor itself is made of it, soft but quite sturdy I found out earlier.

I ended up filling the place with colors, all sorts of plants and shrubbery all over the place, and I’m still making more of them. Currently working on a blue pea flower, the leaves and soft stem are already done and coiling around a trellis; the climbing plants needed one as it doesn’t have a sturdy body to grow with. My upper pair of hands are tinged with many colors, all from painting the plants from before, while my other pair is holding multiple paint stained rags.

 **“A bit of white here, and some green there…”** I hummed to myself as I kept painting out the flowers. **“And...done!”**

Reaching my hand into the finished piece and making ripples across the surface, I grabbed one of the trellis’s bars and _pulled._ The whole thing was carefully dragged out, and got seated beside some of the violets and marigolds. The former was very fragrant and had a sweet taste to it, while the latter was mildly citrusy and has a subtle spice, very pleasant as well.

Now chewing on one of the blue pea flowers, I start to work on another plant, this time it’s a honeysuckle.

As I was focused on painting the new shrubbery, I didn’t notice someone coming up from behind me.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

???POV

A new mind appeared out of nowhere.

While this isn’t exactly an abnormality, as newborns aren’t exactly new here, it’s strange because this one looks very different from other minds of the bugs I’ve seen. 

For starters, it’s both young but old at the same time, as if a larva somehow got hold of an old bug’s memories and abilities. 

Second of all, it’s ridiculously colorful. The minds of a bug are normally one-toned, little to none have multiple colors with the exception of Higher Beings.

The minds of my moths are typically warm toned and mellow, often bright as they know how to wield and manipulate Dreams like I can. The shelled bugs like the snails, pill bugs or beetles often have bleak minds, but there are times where they have a sheen to them like how their own shells would. All of Unn’s creations have minds in shades of green. As for the arachnids...they all have dark shades, that’s all I shall say. All under the Nightmare’s influence have red tinted minds and it’s unsettling.

But this one? It’s as if someone had stained it haphazardly with a brush filled with all sorts of dye. It’s surface also consistently shifts around. Whenever I look away from it, the colors keep changing like it’s alive. It’s a new pattern of colors everytime and it’s weird. Not even Higher Beings like me have that much colors, and this baffles me. 

I can now look into it and see what’s going on with this bug, now that they’re asleep.

* * *

Carefully flying into it, I’ll admit that I was speechless for a while at the sight of the strange bug’s Dream. The platforms are replaced by...solid clouds? The surroundings are dark with an ever shifting expanse of colors instead of the usual gold, and strange plants are _everywhere._

(the sky is kinda like this)

I can see someone painting not on a surface, they’re spreading colors across the air, like they’re painting on something invisible. I froze in shock when they could turn those paintings into their real life counterparts, just by “pulling” them out of the air, literally. And...they kept eating the flowers apparently, since almost all of them look like they have a bite out of it.

Another thing, this Dream is absolutely teeming with Essence, I can feel myself being energized just by being here. What are they? What manner of being is this?

Moving closer to them, I can see that the being is the same size as me. Their appearance is strange as well, a white mask-like face and sharp horns, a humanoid body with four arms that’s stained with colors, a long tail that whips around, and their legs...why do they have blades for legs?

Putting that thought aside, I called out to them.

“Hello?” 

I did not expect them to, to put it simply, explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask questions if needed, and here's what they look like.  
> Spoilers to their name tho


End file.
